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Cadbury's Todd Stitzer gives American rival Kraft both barrels

Stuck in Lisbon airport one Friday afternoon last month, Roger Carr checked his voicemail. There was a message for him from Irene Rosenfeld, boss of Kraft Foods, the $40 billion American colossus. She would be in Europe the following week and wanted a chat.

Carr, the 62-year-old veteran who chairs Britain's biggest chocolate maker, Cadbury, as well as Centrica, the energy giant, called his secretary to fix up a meeting for the following Friday, August 28.

Rosenfeld, 56, has a formidable reputation. She took over the chairmanship of America's biggest food company in 2007, a year after she was made chief executive. Forbes magazine places her sixth on its list of the world's most powerful women.

On the eve of the meeting, she flew in to Luton airport in Kraft's eight-seater Gulfstream jet and spent the night at the Ritz hotel in Mayfair before making her way to the 9.30am